'A Woman's Touch'

For 338 years, the Corporation was entirely male. When Hope entered the Cabot Room in Loeb House for her first bimonthly corporation meeting, it was no small feat.

Eleven years later, she is leaving Harvard's most elite in order to concentrate her time on her law career and her work in Republican politics.

During the search process, Rudenstine and Provost Harvey V. Fineberg both said finding a woman to replace Hope would be desirable, but that finding the most qualified person--man or woman--was their first priority.

Calkins, who served on the Corporation for 17 years without a female colleague, says having a woman on board helps the University in a variety of ways, especially now, in the wake of last October's merger between Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges. "I have always thought that would make the Radcliffe people...more comfortable," Calkins says.

He says women can offer the governing body something unique: perspective on the obstacles women face in the workplace.

According to Calkins, Harvard is a model for other national institutions in its policies regarding tenure and other opportunities for women in a university setting.

"As a society and as a university, we have really failed to come to grips with the fact that women do take a larger share of family responsibility than men do," he says.